Hinkley was the 'Granddaddy of Milwaukee radio'

Journal Sentinel file photo

Gordon Hinkley in 1987.

Gordon Hinkley, whose Milwaukee radio career spanned more than a half century and whose voice was as familiar as an old friend to thousands of listeners, died this week at age 88.

Once called the "Granddaddy of Milwaukee radio," whose "Ask Your Neighbor" show ran on WTMJ-AM (620) for more than 30 years, Hinkley died Monday at the Village at Manor Park in West Allis, his family said.

"He was the cornerstone of WTMJ radio for so many years," said Steven J. Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Journal Communications, publisher of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"He knew how to connect with an audience, and you could tell he just loved being on that radio," said Smith, the former vice president and general manager of WTMJ and WKTI radio. "People just believed in him."

Gordon Lyle Hinkley was born in Port Edwards, Wis., in 1925 and married Joyce Berryman, his high school sweetheart, in 1943.

Hinkley's radio career began in 1941, when he hosted a Sunday piano show at WFHR in Wisconsin Rapids after an audition for a talent contest sponsored by the station.

"I remember when they built the radio station over Nash Hardware," Hinkley told the late Journal Sentinel TV and radio columnist Tim Cuprisin in 1997. "I went up to look over the place and that was it. I just kept hanging around."

Hinkley, who also emceed a Saturday show for teens, served three years in the U.S. Army in Europe and did some announcing for the Armed Services Radio Network.

He also worked for WSAU radio in Wausau, and in 1950, he became an announcer with WTMJ radio, where he began hosting the station's morning show.

During the 1950s he also hosted a WTMJ radio and television show featuring Joe Schott and his Hot Shots, a country and western band.

In 1961, Hinkley introduced the "Ask Your Neighbor" program, where he invited listeners to call and exchange information, such as household tips, advice on how to find a good spot remover and other everyday questions.

"People would call in asking about recipes or how to remove gum stuck to corduroy," recalled Steve Wexler, executive vice president for TV and radio of the Journal Broadcast Group, who listened to the show as a young boy and met Hinkley while interning at WTMJ radio in the mid-1970s.

"Listeners loved him. Advertisers trusted him. And all of us who knew him learned from him."

For a time, Wexler hosted an overnight show that ended at 5 a.m., 30 minutes before Hinkley's morning show began.

"I would hang around to watch how a real professional did radio," Wexler said. "Like many other broadcasters I learned by watching him."

Other shows hosted by Hinkley included "Gotta Minute?" and "Gordon Hinkley's Wisconsin Weekend."

No ego

"Even though he was such a big deal, he didn't have an ego," said WTMJ radio personality Gene Mueller, who now hosts the morning spot once held by Hinkley.

"He was one of the guys, one of the grunts, as regular and common a guy you'd ever hope to find."

It was a humility that didn't go unnoticed by Hinkley's listeners, Smith said.

"He understood and cared about every individual he was talking to," Smith said.

In 1997, Hinkley was recognized by some 6,000 radio executives and members of the Museum of Broadcast Communications with his induction into the national Radio Hall of Fame.

"For nearly half a century, his crisp, commanding voice has been part of the Milwaukee landscape," Journal Sentinel columnist Cuprisin wrote upon Hinkley's induction.

The recognition followed Hinkley's induction into the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 1992.

By the time Hinkley retired in 2001, his radio career had already reached 60 years.

In addition to his wife, Hinkley is survived by three children, Jeffrey, Lynn and Lisl; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.